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In the biggest game of her life, Paige Bueckers must have felt she was dribbling through a series of funhouse mirrors, with waves of South Carolina defenders strobing before her eyes.
By the time she made her first basket, early in the second quarter, she was cutting South Carolina's lead to 15 points. By the time she recorded her first assist, there was just 2:39 left in the third quarter and South Carolina's lead was 12.
The sophomore from Hopkins High would lead her team in scoring and rebounding, but South Carolina's defenders smothered UConn long enough to win the national championship, 64-49, on Sunday night at Target Center.
Bueckers' storybook is missing a chapter.
"Being here at home is amazing but at UConn, it's national championship or nothing,'' she said.
She was sitting at the postgame news conference, eyes red. The towel draped over her left shoulder read, "Final Four/Minneapolis.''
"It was an amazing weekend,'' she said. "Just being able to be here and spend more time with each other, and build more memories, was amazing. Obviously, we're not happy right now.''
Bueckers was playing in the arena where her basketball idol, Lindsay Whalen, played on four championship teams, on the weekend when Whalen was selected for the Hall of Fame. It was another great point guard who ruined the ideal Minnesota story.
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, one of the greatest guards in WNBA history, sent Destanni Henderson, Brea Beal and Zia Cooke at Bueckers, who feinted and spun to create her own shot but rarely found teammates who could make one.
"We had our game plan ready,'' said South Carolina star Aliyah Boston. "We knew that we needed to apply so much defensive pressure, make it hard for Paige and make someone else score.''
Bueckers earned loud ovations during introductions, and again when she blocked Cooke's breakaway layup attempt, and again when she buried a three-pointer late in the fourth quarter to give her team hope.
She scored 14 points, the only UConn player in double digits, led the team in rebounding with six and was named to the Final Four all-tournament team.
Bueckers would drive, create space, then hit a step-back midrange jumper. She would fake a pass, spin, and fire again. Without much offensive help against what her coach, Geno Auriemma, called the nation's best defense, Bueckers found herself contributing to two trends:
- She keeps justifying her reputation as a generational player.
- She has played on two teams that have failed to break UConn's title drought, which dates to 2016, a notable slump only when you're accustomed to dominating an entire sport.
Two days after leaving the semifinals for a few minutes with a right leg injury, Bueckers played the entire first half, looking winded at times but never looking for a sub. Her only break came with 53 seconds left in the third quarter.
"Everything was a struggle tonight,'' Auriemma said.
"Nobody in my position would be happy right now,'' Bueckers said. "I'm obviously just upset with the way things ended. Super proud of this team for how far we've come. … Just wish things could have gone different for the seniors.''
Between Minnesotans and UConn fans, Bueckers had most of the crowd on her side, even though South Carolina brought an impressive number of fans to enjoy the extended Minnesota winter.
If UConn is going to win a national title with Bueckers on the roster, she's probably going to have to take more three-point shots. Her midrange game and creative drives make her difficult to guard, and leave her the option of finding teammates at the last instant, but she rarely looks at the basket when she's beyond the three-point line even though she made 46.4% of her three-pointers as a freshman.
She spent much of her sophomore season recovering from a knee injury, and on March 7 she played just nine minutes.
Sunday, she was the best player on a team in the national title game in her hometown, a sweet story until the end.
